Resilient legged heating support



May 26, 1964 L. c. HANsoN 3,1345887 RESILIENT LEGGED HEATING SUPPORT Filed June 5, 1962 United States Patent O 3,134,887 RESILIENT LEGGED HEATING SUPPORT Leroy C. Hanson, Elmhurst, Ill., assigner to Ferro Corporation, a corporation of Ohio Filed June 5, 1962, Ser. No. 200,103 2 Claims. (Cl. 219-458) This invention relates to a heating unit assembly and more particularly to a new and improved supporting spider for mounting a heating unit on a range top or the like.

This invention is an improvement of my copending application entitled Heating Unit, Serial No. 169,851, iiletl January 30, 1962, which discloses one form of a resilient leg spider. Various means for mounting heating unit assemblies on range tops or other cooking surfaces are well known in the art, however it is desirable to provide a better means for resiliently holding the heating unit assembly firmly in its proper environment. These heating unit assemblies generally include an electric heating element attached to a spider which is then supported in a surface opening on the range top. One portion of the spider is releasably attached to the range top, and the other legs of the spider resiliently bias the spider in its holding position. Therefore, the entire assembly is rigidly held in, but removable from, the range top.

It is an object of this invention to provide a new and improved spider for supporting a heating element.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a resiliently held spider which will be rmly retained in place yet easily removable.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a supporting spider which is economical to manufacture, durable in use and simple and easy to install.

Other objects and advantages will become readily apparent from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. l is a plan view of the invention in its environment including a heating element and a portion of a range top;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary vertical section taken generally along the line 2-2 of FIG. l; and

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the spider removed from the heating unit assembly.

While an illustrative embodiment of the invention is shown in the drawing and will be described in detail herein, the invention is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms and it should be understood that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exempliiication of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the embodiment illustrated. The

scope of the invention will be pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring now to the drawing, FIG. 1 shows the heating unit assembly generally shown at in its environment on the top of an electric range. This heating unit assembly 10 includes a sheathed coil 11 and a supporting spider 12. The range surface 13 has an opening 14 and an inner liner 15 therein. The spider 12 supports the heating coil 11 on its upper surface and rests on inner liner 15 in said opening 14. The coil 11 is attached to spider 12 as at 16 where an attachment piece 17 is connected to the coil 11 and passes through apertures 18 in spider 12. Coil 11 has electrical contacts as at 19 to provide the heating current as is well known in the art.

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Spider 12 is made up of three similarly shaped pieces as at 20, 21 and 22 (FIG. 3). Each of these pieces includes a leg 20A, 21A and 22A, an attachment flange 20B, 21B and 22B and an adjoining segment between the leg and the attaching flange 20C, 21C and 22C. These pieces when joined together as shown in FIG. 3 form a single unit spider indicated generally at 12.

Means are provided on the spider 12 at the outer end of the legs, for attaching the spider to the inner liner 15 of the range opening 14. One leg herein shown as 20 has a small dog 23 at the outer end thereof. This dog cooperates with aperture 24 in liner 15 to releasably yet firmly hold the dog in place with the liner as best shown in FIG. 2. Leaf springs 25 are attached to the outer ends of the other spider legs as in FIGS. 1 and 3. These leaf springs 25 are attached tangentially to the legs and form an arc greater than so as to provide a bearing surface between the spider 12 and the inner liner 15 as at 26.

In operation the coil 11 and spider 12 are attached together to form a single heating unit assembly 10. This heating unit assembly 10 is then inserted in the range opening 14 surrounded by the inner liner 15. The dog 23 of one leg of the spider is inserted in aperture 24 of the liner 15 and the other two legs of the spider are placed into the opening 14 with the springs 25 bearing against the inner liner 15. Thus, a resilient pressure from springs 25 will firmly yet releasably retain the spider 12 and heating unit assembly 10 in their proper position on the range surface 13 yet the heating unit assembly 10 is still easily removable to provide for cleaning and any maintenance which may be necessary.

I claim:

1. A spider for mounting a coiled heating element on an electric range having an opening therein to receive said element, comprising: a support member having a plurality of legs extending therefrom, said legs being of sufficient rigidity and strength so as to support said element and a cooking utensil thereon, and a pair of springs of lesser strength and rigidity than said legs each mounted on the outer end of a different one of said legs whereby said springs may be compressed to permit insertion of said member in said opening, the resilience of said springs serving to retain the member in said position.

2. A spider for mounting a roiled heating element on an electric range having an opening therein to receive said element, comprising: a support member having a plurality of legs extending therefrom, said legs being of suicient rigidity and strength so as to support said element and a cooking utensil thereon, a pair of springs of lesser strength and rigidity than said legs each mounted on the outer end of a different one of said legs, said support member having a third leg provided with an extending finger engageable in a notch formed in a side wall of the opening whereby said finger may be inserted in said hole and said springs may be compressed to permit insertion and cause retention of said member in said opening.

References Cited in the iile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,742,078 Jacobs Dec. 3l, 1929 2,442,659 McCormick June 1, 1948 2,515,579 Allen July 18, 1950 3,072,775 Ammerman et a1 n Jan.. 8 19.63 

1. A SPIDER FOR MOUNTING A COILED HEATING ELEMENT ON AN ELECTRIC RANGE HAVING AN OPENING THEREIN TO RECEIVE SAID ELEMENT, COMPRISING: A SUPPORT MEMBER HAVING A PLURALITY OF LEGS EXTENDING THEREFROM, SAID LEGS BEING OF SUFFICIENT RIGIDITY AND STRENGTH SO AS TO SUPPORT SAID ELEMENT AND A COOKING UTENSIL THEREON, AND A PAIR OF SPRINGS OF LESSER STRENGTH AND RIGIDITY THAN SAID LEGS EACH MOUNTED ON THE OUTER END OF A DIFFERENT ONE OF SAID LEGS WHEREBY SAID SPRINGS MAY BE COMPRESSED TO PERMIT INSERTION OF SAID MEMBER IN SAID OPENING, THE RESILIENCE OF SAID SPRINGS SERVING TO RETAIN THE MEMBER IN SAID POSITION. 